How long is a meet?

Former Member
Former Member
There is a Master's meet in Atlanta this Sunday which starts at 10 AM. I haven't been to one before so I was wondering how long they last and is there a certain order to the events.
  • You guys have really long meets up there! Our zone meets are usually over by 2-3:00 pm. That's because NEM SCY is the best meet EVAR. Besides, it's big and you can swim as many events as you want, but it's three days so they aren't all on top of one another. I know for me and other folks on my team, it's the one chance every year to swim off events and swim them tapered. Plus, the team competition is, unlike nationals, reasonably close, so swimming lots does help your team. I hope you can get your hands on the Metro records this year, Rick.
  • Er. . . I'll stay away from meets in this zone. Need to brush up on my fortune telling skills. Reasons why I'm way off seed times include but are not limited to: Getting injured/ ill prior to the meet but post the meet entry being sent in Injury or illness during the meet Swimming 5 events per day two of which are 800 free and 200 fly - what's a good formula short of the quadratic equation to estimate how much slower you'll be in subsequent events? Deciding to taper, or rest, or keep training hard prior to the meet but after entry is sent in Family/ work distractions Meet is small resulting in 7 minutes rest between some events Due to the 7 minute respite, using next event as a chance to catch your breath - nothing like a 200 IM to catch your breath Hole in fastskin - in the crotch - use teammate's poly that is 2 sizes too large Never swam the event before in your life but coach says don't enter NT Swam the event 20 years ago Competition pool is at an unusual 86 degrees Need I go on? The longer the distance, the more these factors affect the swim. I couldn't guess who is sandbagging and who isn't. I'm not in their shoes. Yes, exactly what I've been getting at but couldn't elucidate very well. Guestimation = fortune telling unless you're a robot. We do the best we can. I hope I never have the FS problem though!
  • You guys have really long meets up there! Yes we do. I think our NEM SCY champs was the second-largest USMS SCY meet this past season in the country, second to nationals. I think. We had around 850 swimmers this year, and we run in a single 8-lane course. When the dust settles, we end up with about 30 total hours of in-water competition (not including warmup time). -Rick
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    This is how I like it short and fast www.youtube.com/watch The camera was turned on after I had swum for 1 min.
  • In NE, we've debated having "requirements" of seeding with best times. I'm against this. I understand that big meets need to be run efficiently and everyone should make a good faith effort to do their part. But this is masters swimming, not USA swimming. It doesn't need to be run like the military and doing so could discourage participation. The vagaries of life can effect masters swimmers and their seed times. I don't think we should have to write letters begging for slower times b/c of injury, illness, etc. We are all adults and should be able to write in our own seed times. The scurilous egomaniacs are very few, at least I hope. And what would be next? Punishment for NS or scratching an event? Doesn't that effect the timeline too? Banning all deck entries at local meets to speed things along? Yes, the meet will run faster, but with less participants. The last meet I attended, there was a couple significant delays from re-seeding the breaststroke events due to deck entries. This did not bother me. More people swam. I chatted with my teammates. As to the issue of of the ethics of fudging a bit on an event like imspoiled, Jeff and I have done, that's overblown. Yes, the order of events is part of the "game." But I think individual aspirations and inspiration should not be ignored either. Let's encourage people to swim and try to improve, not berate them for trying to swim more. I don't think flexibility is a bad thing. It's the inflexible attitudes that annoy me, i.e, "fins have no place in competitive swimming," "all shoulder injuries are due to poor technique," "sprinters are whimps" or "all triathletes are evil." We all have to train and swim in a way that suits our own life and ability to train.
  • It happened to me in the 800 free 2004 LC Nats in Savannah. I was seeded 3rd and the person in my age grup seeded 4th beat her seed time by more then 15 sec. She sandbagged majorly! In an 800 I could easily see beating your previous best by 15 seconds, especially if your comparing tapered to untapered times and long course, which a lot of people swim infrequently.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    If everyone were within 3 seconds of their seed time, I'd be thrilled!!!!! Even if everyone were within 6 seconds! -Rick Er. . . I'll stay away from meets in this zone. Need to brush up on my fortune telling skills. Reasons why I'm way off seed times include but are not limited to: Getting injured/ ill prior to the meet but post the meet entry being sent in Injury or illness during the meet Swimming 5 events per day two of which are 800 free and 200 fly - what's a good formula short of the quadratic equation to estimate how much slower you'll be in subsequent events? Deciding to taper, or rest, or keep training hard prior to the meet but after entry is sent in Family/ work distractions Meet is small resulting in 7 minutes rest between some events Due to the 7 minute respite, using next event as a chance to catch your breath - nothing like a 200 IM to catch your breath Hole in fastskin - in the crotch - use teammate's poly that is 2 sizes too large Never swam the event before in your life but coach says don't enter NT Swam the event 20 years ago Competition pool is at an unusual 86 degrees Need I go on? The longer the distance, the more these factors affect the swim. I couldn't guess who is sandbagging and who isn't. I'm not in their shoes.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    It happened to me in the 800 free 2004 LC Nats in Savannah. I was seeded 3rd and the person in my age grup seeded 4th beat her seed time by more then 15 sec. She sandbagged majorly! In fact, in watching her team that day, they all beat their seed time by a lot. I assumed then that their coach did it. I can't remember who it was or what team but I and others were not happy with them. Alison Ok, but is it possible she just had a great swim? Although I see your point about it being a "team" thing. At SC Nats in May I entered my most recent (and best) time for the 1000 free and beat my seed time by 16 seconds. The seed time came from a meet in Feb 07, so there was really no reason to think a swim in May would be a lot faster. It hurt like heck 'cause I used Muppet's "swim all out and hope you hang on" strategy, but it happened. Sometimes, everything just clicks. Dana
  • Alison: It's a big ole surprise. I'm doing it on a dare. :eek: I also have a cyber "grudge" race on an earlier event that day. I'll probably be so worn out after Saturday, I'll look like this :cane: on Sunday. And then SwimmieAvs will get her revenge in the 100 back. No hints, Fort??? Which day is this dare swim? I'm only doing Sat. My wrist is worse so I'm taking it easy and only doing 3 events (100 fly, 200 free and 50 ***). If the wrist doesn't survive the 100 fly, I'll scratch the 50 ***. 5 days later I will be having surgery on said bad wrist. Alison
  • It hurt like heck 'cause I used Muppet's "swim all out and hope you hang on" strategy, but it happened. Sometimes, everything just clicks. Thats an AWESOME strategy!!! I love it! Did you taper for Nationals? If so, that kind of time drop isn't surprising. I have a tendency to drop about 15 seconds in my 500 free between my in-season and taper meet times! likewise in the 500. actually, I dropped 13 seconds (17 from my entry time) in my 400 free at worlds last year. things like that happen when you've only got three times off which to base your entry. those times, btw, were PBs until that point.
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